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Review
. 2018 Dec 4;11(1):850.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-018-3967-4.

Interpreting rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Plasmodium falciparum

Verner N Orish  1 , Virtue F De-Gaulle  2 , Adekunle O Sanyaolu  3
Affiliations
Review

Interpreting rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Plasmodium falciparum

Verner N Orish et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Objective: Rapid diagnostic tests have been of tremendous help in malaria control in endemic areas, helping in diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases. It is heavily relied upon in many endemic areas where microscopy cannot be obtained. However, caution should be taken in the interpretation of its result in clinical setting due to its limitations and inherent weakness. This paper seeks to present the varying malaria RDT test results, the possible interpretations and explanation of these results common in endemic regions. Published works on malaria RDT studies were identified using the following search terms "malaria RDT in endemic areas", "Plasmodium falciparum and bacterial coinfection" "Plasmodium falciparum RDT test results in children in endemic areas" in Google Scholar and PubMed.

Results: The review results show that RDT positive results in febrile patients can either be true or false positive. True positive, representing either a possible single infection of Plasmodium or a co-infection of bacteria and P. falciparum. False RDT negative results can be seen in febrile patient with P. falciparum infection in prozone effect, Histidine rich protein 2 (HRP2) gene deletion and faulty RDT kits. Hence, a scale up of laboratory facilities especially expert microscopy and other diagnostic tools is imperative.

Keywords: Malaria diagnosis; Parasite lactose dehydrogenase enzyme (pLDH); Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich proteins-2 (HRP2); Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT).

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the article search process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Possible presentation and interpretations of RDT result in a febrile patient
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Possible presentation and interpretations of RDT result in an afebrile patient. RDT +VE: rapid diagnostic test is positive; RDT −VE: rapid diagnostic test is negative; Pf: Plasmodium falciparum
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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